I just bought the Kobo e-reader and connected it to my laptop running Windows XP. The installation seemed to go fine, but when I try to run the Kobo Desktop app I get the error message "This application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect." I have tried reinstalling several times with the same result. I figured there was just a bug and that I could download a newer version of the desktop installer from the web, but I cannot find a download site anywhere. The kobobooks.com site offers downloads for various mobile devices, but I do not see the desktop app download. Any ideas what might be causing this error, and where I can get a new download of the app?

I've found that if uninstall the the desktop app and reinstall I can sync with my reader once. After that it hangs or is taking so long to do anything that may as well be hung.
I've installed the update listed above, I'm running XP SP3.
What seems to be the killer is that it has to download the books I've bought every time it runs. I can understand once, but every time? I've bought 3 books and with each on the time to download gets long. 3 is not so bad but what happens when I get to 13 or 33? I'll tell you what happens. I'll not get past 3 books. I'm not buying anymore until this get ironed out.
What really worries me is that the Firmware updates are supposed to get to my ereader via this software.

When i plug in the Kobo to a USB port my computer does not find the Kobo device. I do not get the window asking what i want to do and the Kobe does not show up in My Computer. I have Windows XP SP3. I have a number of USB devices and i have tried different ports.

I downloaded the Desktop App, but there is no way I can synchronize until I have the Kobo in My Computer showing up as a hard drive.

I do have the Kobo connected to my network wirelessly, but I cannot see it on my network. I doubt if I could synchronize with just a network connection.

Any ideas? I can try another PC, but I want it to work with this unit.

You can sync wirelessly, Tony. Many WiFi users do that all the time. My network never sees it--perhaps because it is not actually joined to the network, but is, instead, just a device using the WiFi off of the router the network also uses.

Last edited by taming; 12-28-2010 at 06:46 AM.
Reason: more sepculation...

I do have the Kobo connected to my network wirelessly, but I cannot see it on my network. I doubt if I could synchronize with just a network connection.

Since I have no wifi reader, I could only ask a question.
I suppose that reader asks for dynamic IP address. That way any device
might be visible on the net and handle tasks it should. Using usb cable,
it does not need address, since it is just usb client on the address of the
host node. If it would be me, I'd fire up nmap or a tool alike to see if any
device roam on the network. Depending on the router you have, it might
show devices connected to it (or not). To my knowledge, you should use
a protocol to access remote file system. What that protocol is, cannot say.
Some nodes let user ssh to it. Samba is common in some tribes. If you
find IP address of the reader, you could scan open ports and report to
this forum.

Z--the reader is not joined to the network. It is simply using the router's wifi connection.

It has to "join" the network like any other wifi device. That's how wireless Ethernet works. I haven't seen any detailed info on how koob's wifi syncing works but I suspect once the kobo obtains its IP, it sends out a broadcast Ethernet message for the desktop app to pick up. If your wireless network is separate from the wired, it's possible the desktop app won't be able to see the kobo's broadcast message.

It has to "join" the network like any other wifi device. That's how wireless Ethernet works. I haven't seen any detailed info on how koob's wifi syncing works but I suspect once the kobo obtains its IP, it sends out a broadcast Ethernet message for the desktop app to pick up. If your wireless network is separate from the wired, it's possible the desktop app won't be able to see the kobo's broadcast message.

I don't believe the desktop app is involved. Neither is your computer.

You can shut your computer completely off and just have your wireless router turned on and the Kobo will connect to the network and the Store just fine. The wireless router is the network.

GRC Port Authority Report created on UTC: 2010-12-28 at 14:13:43
Results from scan of ports: 0-1055
0 Ports Open
1051 Ports Closed
5 Ports Stealth
---------------------
1056 Ports Tested
NO PORTS were found to be OPEN.
Ports found to be STEALTH were: 135, 137, 138, 139, 445
Other than what is listed above, all ports are CLOSED.
TruStealth: FAILED - NOT all tested ports were STEALTH,
- NO unsolicited packets were received,
- A PING REPLY (ICMP Echo) WAS RECEIVED.

So at least the standard service ports are closed.

In fact, using nMap across all ports show they are all closed too, so it does not look that there is any way to initiate a transfer to the Kobo from an external device.

Named ports are called "netbios" in some tribes. It was a good choice
to block them anyway. I cannot say what it means on the linux node,
except for samba.

After a little experiment above, it looks obvious that device gets ip
address in a dynamic form. It takes gateway and fires up it's client to
connect kobo server. I would rather run tcpdump or some other app
for network traffic logger and see what's going on on the wire.

I'm not sure what win apps could see on ports. For any further job,
nmap should be considered. Server, waiting for connection, makes
port open. Filtered port from time to time means there is a firewall
involved. Not always. Have to confess I do not understand win termi-
nology.